Afi Apefa Bello is originally from Togo, West Africa. At the age of 6, her family immigrated to the United States. Having grown up aware of the circumstances which faced her family and others across the African continent, Afi was inspired to address them in her career, especially those concerning disparities in education and gender. Afi graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in May 2019, where she majored in African, African-American, and Diaspora Studies. While at UNC-CH, Afi studied several languages spoken across the African continent, including Kiswahili and Lingala. In 2017, she was awarded the U.S. Foreign Language and Area Studies fellowship to study intensive Kiswahili in Tanzania through the Howard University Swahili Study Abroad program. Driven by her passion for education and gender equity, Afi returned to Tanzania in 2018 as an intern with non-profit organization Students for Students International (S4Si), in partnership with NGO Forum for African Women Educationalists where she worked to address gender disparities in secondary education in Zanzibar. Afi later became Co-Executive Director of S4Si. Through the Okun Foundation grant, Afi conducted research exploring Afro-Diasporic community relations. Afi remains curious as to the role which the African Diaspora plays in development in Africa. At UNC-CH, Afi was awarded the Annexstad Family Foundation Leaders of Tomorrow scholarship in its inaugural class, 2015, and was named a 2017 Harvey Beech scholar. After graduating from UNC-Chapel Hill, Afi served as a College Advisor with the Carolina College Advising Corps, working to increase college access and other post-secondary opportunities for low-income, first-generation, and underrepresented high school students. Afi volunteers with Refugee and Immigrant Community Partnership in North Carolina to address the needs of its immigrant communities. Afi enjoys sewing with African fabric, African literature, and learning new languages. She is excited to work with the African School of Economics this year!

Sami, born and raised in South Seattle, graduated from Johns Hopkins University with a degree in the natural sciences and international studies. His work experiences in undergrad ranged from cancer research at the University of Michigan to digital health software and business development in Lagos, Nigeria at a startup he credits with opening his eyes to opportunities on the continent. This professional interest goes well with his language background – having studied Mandarin Chinese, Arabic, and Wolof through courses and a study abroad program where he conducted research on youth organizing in Sufi communities in Senegal, Italy, and France. Sami interned at Bloomberg Philanthropies where he supported early stage public-private partnerships across youth employment and business verticals. After a scholarship program in Taiwan just before COVID-19 hit the US, he is excited to be working with the African Leadership Academy.

Conor graduated from Princeton University with a degree in Political Science and a certificate in African Studies. Academically and professionally, he specializes in issues of institutional design and government accountability. Conor has examined these topics closely in his research, including a comparative investigation into East African tax administrations and a senior thesis that tested links between urban protests in South Africa and the responsiveness of municipal officials. In the summer of 2019, he interned at the State Department’s Bureau of African Affairs, where he supported efforts to develop and expand regional partnerships and transparency initiatives. He is especially passionate about protecting the human rights and dignity of the most vulnerable, having taken part in State Department initiatives to combat human trafficking. Conor is excited to work as a Princeton in Africa fellow with Kaz’O’zah Keza, an organization that provides artisan training and organizational support to communities in Burundi and Uganda.

Nishtha graduated from Emerson College with an M.A. in Communication Management with a specialization in Political Communication in 2018. Born and raised in New Delhi, India, she also holds an undergraduate degree in Journalism from Wilson College, University of Mumbai, and a Post Graduate Diploma in Journalism from Asian College of Journalism, Chennai. A former journalist, Nishtha worked with one of the largest English newspapers in India. During this time, she reported on education, politics and LGBTQ+ rights. As she collaborated with activists and community members for news stories, she discovered her passion for social advocacy and community engagement. Since then she has worked with nonprofits and advocacy centers to help further their vision. Most notably, she worked as a program associate with the Elma Lewis Center for Civic Engagement, Learning and Research, where she gained experience in community outreach and building a grassroots movement. She also worked with Boston Partners in Education as their program coordinator for Power Lunch, a reading enrichment program for students in Boston Public Schools. In 2020, she was selected as a Social Entrepreneurship Fellow by ProFellow, a US-based social enterprise, where she learnt about the mechanics of building and sustaining a social enterprise. In the future, she hopes to get an academic understanding of community development and social justice practices, and eventually start her own social enterprise focused around connecting community-based organizations from developing countries. In her free time, Nishtha likes to bake, watch world cinema, and explore museums.

Tim Offei-Addo, a Ghanaian-American raised in the Boston area, graduated from Amherst College with a degree in Environmental Studies. At Amherst Tim served as the Co-President of Remnant, the Black Christian fellowship, where he focused on creating a space where students could grapple with issues at the intersection of faith and race. He also served as Co-President of the Kidney Disease Screening and Prevention Club and organized free kidney screenings for underserved populations in the Amherst Area. These experiences helped significantly during his internship with the Ghanaian Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA). While shadowing government officials Tim noticed the important role community organizations played in MOFA and NGO partnerships. He returned to Ghana to conduct research for his undergraduate thesis, analyzing the cultural competency of Ghana’s National Climate Smart Agriculture Action Plan. Upon its completion he presented his thesis at the Harvard Club to the Amherst College Trustees and distinguished guests. Since graduating Tim has pursued his passions as a Policy Analyst for Climate Scorecard: a non-profit initiative that seeks to strengthen emission reduction pledges to the Paris Agreement and an Apprentice Gleaner at Boston Area Gleaners an organization that harvest surplus farm crops and donates them to Food Banks. Tim enjoys farming, cooking, watching soccer and listening to music in his free time.

Folakemi was born and raised in Nigeria. She graduated from the University of Georgia in 2019 with degrees in international affairs and French, subsequently working with the National Democratic Institute (NDI) in Washington D.C. As the program assistant on NDI’s Cote d’Ivoire programs, she supported the development and in-country implementation of democratic governance and social cohesion programs. Before her time at NDI, she monitored the implementation of the cluster munition treaty as an intern with the Arms Division of Human Rights Watch; conducted research on food security policy in the Sahel as a Carl Vinson Institute Undergraduate Fellow; and studied abroad at Sciences Po, Paris. Building upon her academic and professional experiences, she hopes to further her understanding of the scope and challenges of sustainable humanitarian and development programs during her fellowship with IRC Somalia. In her free time, Folakemi enjoys experimental cooking and exploring new literary works.

Isaac Kim is a recent graduate of Georgetown University with a major in International Politics and a certificate in African Studies. Originally from Northbrook, Illinois, Isaac focused his undergraduate education on the human impacts of environmental change and policy. Previously, Isaac worked as an external relations intern at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in the Multi-Country Office of Washington, DC, supporting the external relations team’s engagement with US government officials to sustain support for UNHCR’s humanitarian work. Additionally, he has interned at the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy, worked as a community development intern at the Lalibela Game Reserve in South Africa, and helped organize the Georgetown Africa Business Conference. In his free time, Isaac enjoys singing choral music and working as a camp counselor at Lac du Bois, a French language immersion camp.

Marco Kull, who is half-Swiss and half-Croatian, graduated from Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service in 2018 with a degree in International Political Economy and a certificate in Australian, New Zealand, and Pacific Studies. Born in Switzerland, but having spent his childhood living in a number of countries, his studies at Georgetown naturally gravitated towards putting political economy in a global context, eventually focusing on using firm-level data to quantify, compare, and contrast private sector conditions and trajectories across states. During his studies, he spent time working with the Swiss mission to Cuba, as a trainee public markets Portfolio Manager at Bank Julius Baer in Geneva, and as a waiter at restaurants in Peru and Chile; after graduating, he joined UBS’ New York office as an Investment Banking Analyst, where he spent two years working on a variety of M&A and Capital Markets transactions as part of the bank’s Global Consumer Products & Retail coverage team. Fascinated by the ongoing development of private sectors across Africa and the diversity of economic, social, and political opportunity that it presents, Marco’s goal is to build a nuanced understanding of the circumstances and structures shaping that process, and start a career working in and with Africa.

Dara Bernstein is a young professional with experience in international development program monitoring and evaluation. She is passionate about connecting innovative solutions to poverty at the household level with macroeconomic growth strategies. Since graduating from Brown University in 2018 with a degree in Economics and French Studies, Dara has worked as a program associate in the international division of Mathematica, a policy research institute. In this role, she contributes to research in an array of fields, including energy, financial services, secondary education, and workforce development, primarily in West Africa and Morocco. She sees promise in initiatives aimed at improving the skills and capacity of women and youth in developing communities, such as micro-lending to women, strengthening family planning systems, and improving education and workforce development programs. Dara is continually refining her quantitative and qualitative research skills, which are complemented by her proficiency in French and Stata programming. She also has extensive experience in project management and budgeting for large-scale international projects funded by the Millennium Challenge Corporation and the Gates Foundation. Dara is looking forward to her role as a Junior Consultant/MEAL Fellow with the West African Rice Company (WARC) team in Freetown, Sierra Leone.

Trina Swanson, from Iowa, studied Medical Anthropology at Princeton University, and earned certificates in African Studies and Global Health. She also studied Kiswahili, and spent two summers in Tanzania, continuing her Kiswahili studies and interning at a health center. These summers, she also volunteered as an English teacher at a local market, and then at a shelter for homeless girls and their children. Her senior thesis was an ethnography of maternal healthcare for Tanzanian girls and women under age 21. She conducted interviews with health care providers, young mothers, and their families, traveling throughout Arusha and the surrounding villages and holding many adorable infants. Trina spent a prior summer interning in development at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. During her third year of university, she helped PiAf out on the backend as an intern, so she is excited to now be a fellow herself. On campus, she was also involved in Matriculate, a college access non-profit, and she rode weekly overnight shifts with Princeton First Aid and Rescue Squad as a licensed EMT. Since leaving Princeton, Trina has been volunteering at her local district health center on the Covid-19 response and doing research for the JUST data lab at Princeton to build a “Pandemic Portal” on the intersection of race and COVID-19. Trina has a passion for social justice, and hopes to attend medical school and devote her career to global health. She also loves to play violin, watch musicals, and make homemade hot fudge.